[Solved] Payroll for Independent Contractors

[falcon8r]

Hello. I'm helping my father get things streamlined for his delivery business. He is currently using about a dozen Calc spreadsheets to accomplish this and copying and pasting back and forth between them multiple times. In order to streamline things and reduce errors, I'd like to setup a Workbook where he pastes in the info from a report in his bookkeeping software into the "Master" sheet which then copies portions of the data specific to each driver onto separate sheets.

Please see the attached sample file. Ideally he would paste in the data starting at Master.A63 and then the Summary section above would be autofilled along with each of the separate driver pages. Then all he would need to do is goto each Driver tab and Save as PDF to email each driver's page to that driver for them to review and let him know if anything is missing. **Please ignore the additional Driver IDs listed in the Summary section of the Master page. I can create new sheets for additional drivers once I have at least one driver page with needed formulas.

Please let me know if additional information is needed to help me with this issue. I have tried using VLookup with the DriverID at the beginning, but that either only finds the first delivery for each driver to place on the driver page or I end up with runs listed on lower and lower lines for each successive driver. When he sends the report to each driver, he wants to have that driver's runs start just below the headers on their page.

[MrProgrammer]

I have tried using VLookup with the DriverID at the beginning, but that either only finds the first delivery for each driver to place on the driver page or I end up with runs listed on lower and lower lines for each successive driver.

You are trying to filter the data. The VLOOKUP function is not suitable for creating a filter. Calc provides several ways to filter data using Data → Filter.
Calc as a Simple Database

Then all he would need to do is goto each Driver tab and Save as PDF

If you filter the data and export the sheet to PDF, only the rows which match the filter appear in the PDF. Then you can apply a different filter and create other PDFs.

I'd like to setup a Workbook where he pastes in the info from a report in his bookkeeping software into the "Master" sheet which then copies portions of the data specific to each driver onto separate sheets.

Experience has shown it is better when using Calc to keep all related data (same set of attributes) in a single sheet. Splitting related data into multiple sheets makes it difficult to manage and analyze. It is possible to make copies of the data on separate sheets using the MATCH function, but most people find this to be difficult to understand. Data → Filter is much easier.
[Tutorial] Sorting and Filtering data with formulas

I'm helping my father get things streamlined for his delivery business. … I'd like to setup a Workbook where he pastes in the info from a report in his bookkeeping software into the "Master" sheet which then copies portions of the data specific to each driver onto separate sheets.

A database will be a better tool than a spreadsheet for that project. You'll use a "form" to enter data, then use a "report" to display it in the desired layout.


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[falcon8r]

Thank you for your responses. For my dad's uses, I believe you have given me the answer. Unless I am mistaken, his easiest/best answer is to just use an AutoFilter on the Driver column, select a driver, Export that driver's data to a PDF, then goto the next driver. Although each exported pdf won't have custom "Header info" showing that driver's name, I'm pretty sure this will work well.
Thank you again.